Connecting To Hidden Wi-Fi Issue To Be Resolved In Mango

If you are a user of Windows Phone 7, then some of the basic issues that an Android user (and a WP7 hater) is sure to throw at you are missing features like the lack of copy paste (now resolved), ridiculously small number of apps (we are getting there, with 25k already in the Marketplace) and too much security (read inaccessibility of hidden Wi-Fi networks). On the latter you can now hold your own in any argument. Hidden Wi-Fi connectivity is finally coming to Mango! For a lot of people, it is the unavailability of such relatively small features that make Windows Phone 7 virtually impossible to use. If you are already using a beta version of the upcoming Mango update, then don’t be surprised if you don’t find the hidden SSID functionality on your phone. The feature has not been rolled out just yet, but will make its way to WP7 in the final Mango build.

At first, people felt resigned to the fact that this will be added to the list of WP7 missing features that still haven’t been addressed in the new update. The reason for this assumption was that the feature remained missing in the beta versions. But just hours ago it has come to light that the final version of Mango will actually allow users to connect to networks with hidden SSID. Hiding the SSID of Wi-Fi networks has become a common practice in recent years, and many networks that are in crowded areas don’t reveal their name to new people. Even if you own such a network, Windows Phone 7 considered it inappropriate to let you connect with it despite having access to its password. This was a source of major annoyance to a lot of WP7 users, and it comes as a huge relief that the problem has been fixed in Mango.

The news has come from the man himself, Brandon Watson (the Director of Windows Phone 7). In a tweet responding to the query regarding the lack of this promised featured in Mango’s beta versions, Watson revealed that the RTM of the Mango update will include access to hidden Wi-Fi networks.

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This is indeed good news for all the people working in places where the Wi-Fi network is not publicly visible. That makes the list of WP7 negatives even shorter. Now all we need are screenshots, and Windows Phone haters will have to dig a little deeper to come up with something insulting.

Well unfortunately Mango didn’t fix this issue for me either. It is letting me add a hidden network. that is a plus for sure. but it is not connecting. 🙁How does one add a corporate WPA or WPA2 network?